


stockholm

by wearethewitches



Category: NCIS
Genre: Banter, F/M, Feelings, Kissing, One Shot, Protective Jethro Gibbs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 19:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21123971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearethewitches/pseuds/wearethewitches
Summary: Gibbs visits Kate after she's taken hostage.





	stockholm

He shows up at her apartment with Chinese food.

“Uh, what are you doing here, Gibbs?” Kate glances down at the box of shrimp and noodles, shutting her door after he noses in past her, heading straight for her couch. “This is kind of weird.”

“No, what’s weird is you not shanking a terrorist.”

Oh.

That.

“I tried, Ducky can corroborate,” she starts, heading to join him, but he shakes his head, taking a soup out of the paper bag.

“Nah. You had a knife and got up close and personal with our guy,” he says, looking at her with that blank, expectant stare. Kate drops down on the sofa beside him, painfully aware she’s only wearing a tank-top and shorts. In comparison, Gibbs is set for winter in his jacket and boots. “Why’d you stop trying?”

“He threatened to shoot Gerald again.”

“And?”

Kate stares at him. “And what? I wasn’t going to let Gerald get shot _again_ – his arm is already bust!”

“Yeah, but he was threatening all three of you and clearly had an ulterior motive,” Gibbs replies, soup still in hand, but unopened. Kate clenches her jaw.

“I wasn’t going to risk it.”

“You should have.”

His announcement leaves her staggered. Kate doesn’t know what to think, her mind whirling. Should she have tried again? What if he had shot Gerald? Or Ducky? Or _Kate?_ The NCIS agent watches Gibbs tuck into his soup, wondering why he’s come here with Chinese and all these questions – she’d already written a report up about the situation and nowhere in writing had she specified that she had another chance at ‘shanking him’.

“Tony talked to you.”

“Tony talked _at_ me – not my fault his information was worrying, for once,” replies Gibbs. He pins her down, eyes dark. “Any of you could have died, today. You’re my people. I can’t allow that to happen again. The next time something like this happens, you shoot to kill, Kate.”

“That might not be possible-”

“You shoot to kill,” he repeats, glaring. Kate falls silent.

They eat Chinese.

* * *

To Tony, she says her social life would be improved if she couldn’t go home every night and had to spend time with the team. It’s true, in a way – she’d have Tony as well as Gibbs.

He comes over to her apartment most nights. Most of the times, he brings food or makes some with groceries he buys on the way. He makes a really good steak, she discovers. After about a week of the same, she asks him why.

He doesn’t answer.

Huffing, Kate puts down her plate. He points his fork at it. “You gonna eat that?”

“Sure, after you tell me why you’ve been coming over to my place every night,” she says, the first real strains of frustration breaking through. He turns back to his own dinner, functionally mute as always. Kate digs at his shoulder with her knuckles, gaining a sharp look that she only half-expects. He reacts differently to her than he does Tony, after all.

“Why are you here, really?” she asks, softer, quieter. “It can’t just be because of the terrorist.”

“It’s not,” he says, smiling in a funny way. “I’m here to woo you, too.”

Kate rolls her eyes. “Haha. Very funny, Gibbs.”

“I’m not lying. I’m seducing you with home-cooked meals and take-out,” he replies, sitting straighter and leaning back. He’s grinning, now. Kate raises an eyebrow. He shrugs. “It’s the truth.”

“If it were the truth, you might want to try kissing me and see how it works out for you.” She tells him, sarcastic and smiling, not meaning it. Her smile slips away when he puts his plate down and turns in her direction, serious.

“And if I did? Try to kiss you, that is. What would you do?”

“I- _what?_”

“What would you do if I tried to kiss you?” he asks. Kate’s jaw drops. A tense silence flows through her apartment and she abruptly looks away, reeling.

What _would_ she do?

_Let him_, she thinks, feeling awful and disturbed. _I would let him._ She picks up her plate, piling up a forkful of veg, thinking about it. She remembers first meeting him on Air Force One – on Alpha Foxtrot 29000, where they flirted and he got her in the bathroom, trying to see her reaction to Tim Kerry’s death. In retrospect, it was an awful first meeting.

“Do you want me to go?” he questions her, voice quiet. He doesn’t reach for his plate to keep eating, not like her. It’s a distraction, one that Kate suddenly refuses to use as he mutters an apology, saying, “Sorry, Katie.”

She puts the plate down. Her hand reaches out to grab his wrist, stopping him from standing. Their eyes meet and Kate wonders what it would be like to kiss him. He’s always had a mouth on him – three ex-wives were witness to that. His head tilts, like he’s reading her and Kate moves her hand from his wrist to his palm, locking their fingers in a brief, tight squeeze.

“Stay. You’re not finished eating.”

“Neither are you.”

“I’ve got other plans,” Kate says, spark returning to her. His lip twitches and he smiles at her, quiet. Kate leans over, planting her lips on his. A moment later, he kisses back, his hand cradling her head, other holding onto her own. It’s intimate and gentle – and Kate can’t help but compare it to Tim Kerry, who had felt new and interesting.

Gibbs is not new. He is not interesting. Their kiss feels safe and enveloping. He’s her boss, except he’s not – he’s her team leader, her friend. They work together well and he’s been showing her favouritism since the start, but never puts her above the job.

_It could work,_ she thinks. _We could have a relationship and still keep the line._

Their lips part and Kate looks at him through half-closed eyes, their noses brushing. They breathe the same air.

“That was nice,” she says.

“Yeah,” he replies, “it was. Want to try it again?"

"Shoot to thrill, Gunny," she grins.

Gibbs grins right back. "Yes, ma'am."


End file.
